INDIANAPOLIS – There were numbers that stunned the Knicks everywhere you looked. Numbers such as 22 points from Austin Croshere or 16 rebounds from Dale Davis or 18 second-chance Pacer points.

And then there was 10-of-15 shooting on 3-point shots. The Pacers were able to establish an inside presence in Game 1 with Dale Davis and Rik Smits and then the likes of Croshere and Mark Jackson were lethal from long range as they combined to make seven of the 10 trifectas.

“We’re a team that has guys that can step in and make those shots,” Jackson explained. “It makes it awfully tough to guard our key guys because sooner or later, you’re going to have to probably step in a little closer to the guy that the ball is rotating to and pick your poison.”

You play the Pacers and you expect Reggie Miller to deliver daggers all game. He did score 19 points in the Game 1 victory. But the points from Croshere, who made 4-of-5 of his 3-pointers, hitting three in the fourth quarter, and 14 points from Davis gave the Pacers too much balance for the Knicks to overcome.

And the Pacers insist they want to just keep doing what they were doing.

“We’re a great passing team and we’ve got so many shooters, we’re going to spread the floor,” Miller said. “They talk about getting into the lane, taking teams off the dribble and getting wide open shots, we’re very much the same. We just feel we have a lot more shooters than they do. We’re just going to continue to spread the court and drive to the basket.”

And from there kick it out to the perimeter where the Knicks just looked a step slow on their rotations allowing the likes of Croshere to become an immediate celebrity. Croshere played one minute in the playoffs last season and, while a part of the regular rotation this time around, has been coming back from a bum ankle suffered in the Philadelphia series.

Croshere, though, said all he did was take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the inside guys.

“I give a lot of credit to Rik Smits,” Croshere praised. “He established himself down low which forced them to double-team. There’s only so many guys you can guard on the perimeter without leaving somebody open. With Reggie and Jalen there, I was the one left open. They were coming off the Miami series where they didn’t have a power forward who could step out and shoot the 3-point shot. But now they have time to make adjustments and I’m sure they will.”